Many forms of glove constructions have existed over the years which give a comfortable fit to the hands. Such constructions that have existed have required highly skilled labor to shape and assemble the various parts making up the glove in order to assure that the glove would have an accurate, comfortable fit when worn. These prior art constructions involve use of parts having complicated uneven patterns to make thumb constructions which in turn require complex stitching to join the parts together. Further the manufacturing and assembly process of prior glove constructions was complicated by the fact that thumb constructions for the same pair of gloves were not interchangeable, that is a thumb construction of a right-hand glove could not be used with a left-hand glove.
An example of a prior art glove construction is the "Key-hole" thumb construction in which the palm piece of a glove has a key-hole shaped cutout in the general shape of a kidney bean to which base portions of a thumb construction are joined by stitching. The sewing control required to obtain the proper stitching is difficult to maintain due to the complex shape of the cutout. Further the thumb constructions of such gloves are not interchangeable.
Another prior art glove construction is the "Wing-thumb" or continuous thumb construction wherein the palm piece has a part of the thumb construction integral therewith. This construction, in addition to a back piece, requires a separate side panel which forms a back part of the thumb construction and which must be joined by stitching to both the back and palm pieces. This construction, like the key-hole construction, lacks interchangeability of the thumb construction.
A further glove construction is the "English-Thumb" construction and, like the key-hole construction, involves a palm piece having a complex shaped cutout to which must be joined a thumb portion made from a pattern having a complex shape which has to be precisely cut to conform to the edges of the cutout portion. The resulting stitch pattern necessary to join the thumb construction to the palm piece is difficult to control and interchangeability of the thumb construction is lacking.
A still further glove construction is the "Gunn-Thumb" construction. This glove like the aforementioned wing-thumb construction involves the use of complexed shaped patterns where the inwardly facing side of the thumb portion is integral with the palm piece and where the outwardly facing side of the thumb portion comprises a separate panel which must be joined with both the palm and back pieces. Interchangeability of the thumb construction is lacking.
It is therefore an object of my invention to provide for a glove which requires a minimal use of complex shaped patterns, where the thumb construction may be easily assembled, where there may be interchangeability of thumb constructions between right and left-hand gloves, where the stitching required to join the thumb construction to the palm piece is kept to a minimum and where such stitching as is required may be done "in-the-flat."